Kenton Ridge will open the season Friday with a conference game at Indian Lake. Shaffer said he feels good about where the Cougars are after playing four scrimmages in the preseason including games against Beavercreek, Troy, Kent Roosevelt and Edgewood.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had this happen before — we lost seven seniors last year, which is quite a bit,” Shaffer said. “But all our pitching is back. We have every, all 22 wins, are back on the mound. So that’s always good when you know you can return all those guys from a staff that was pretty successful last year, so we’re going to kind of lean on our pitching this year.”
The Cougars will be led by senior right-hander Jake Beard, who earned a Division II Honorable Mention All-Ohio nod and spot on the First Team All-Central Buckeye Conference Kenton Trail Division in 2024.
All-conference second team infielder Zach Deel will suit up at shortstop for his senior season after throwing 42 2/3 innings and striking out 30 hitters a year ago. Alongside him will be classmate Dylan Greer who pitched 40 innings and punched out 29 leading to an All-CBC Special Mention.
Beard threw a conference-high 57 innings last season and posted 73 strikeouts which were third-most in the CBC.
“I think what he’s really done a good job of this year is become the leader,” Shaffer said. “That guy that when he was a sophomore, and even he got some innings as a freshman, we had some guys that were really helping him along because when he would struggle, he’d get down on himself. Well, he’s turned into that leader that we need. Maybe these young guys, if they’re going to struggle, he’s going to be the one that picks them up.”
Kenton Ridge will compete in Division III this season, the first after the OHSAA expanded to seven before this academic year. The school is the smallest in the division with its baseball adjusted enrollment at 276.
“Here’s what I can tell you about D-3: it’s really, really, really tough,” Shaffer said. “I’m looking at some of the teams in there, and man, you’re getting some of those D-1’s, smaller D-1’s that have jumped down to three. Teams like Vandalia Butler, you got Hamilton Badin still in there, Bishop Watterson. I mean, when you go through and just kind of look at — (Chaminade Julienne) is D-3. Tipp. So it’s a gauntlet. It’s a really, really good division.”
The Cougars will play in a competitive Kenton Trail Division among Jonathan Alder, which went 16-0 in conference play and beat Kenton Ridge three times including in the regional semifinal in 2024, and London which had a record of 23-8 including an 11-5 mark in the CBC to tie for second with Kenton Ridge.
Shaffer and Kenton Ridge last won the CBC Kenton Trail Division title in 2021.
“I think we have a good club,” Shaffer said. “We’re expecting to compete for the conference title. We know with J.A., Jonathan Alder, has got a really great program, and we want to position ourselves to make a deep postseason run like we’ve done in the past. And even though the divisions changed, I mean, our goals don’t change.”
Three teams to watch
Springfield: The Wildcats went 7-15 and 4-10 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference to finish sixth in the conference in 2024. It lost 4-3 at Sidney in nine innings during the first round of the postseason. The Wildcats will host Springboro on Wednesday.
Graham: The Falcons went 15-11 and 9-7 to tie for first in the Mad River Division in the CBC last season. It split the season series with North Union, which also went 9-7 in the CBC in 2024, before beating Urbana 8-0 and falling 3-1 at Bellbrook in the postseason. The Falcons will play Miami East on Monday.
Greeneview: The Rams went 19-8 and 13-3 in the Ohio Heritage Conference winning the South Division. It won its first two postseason games 11-1 against Preble Shawnee and 2-1 at Miami East before getting eliminated by Brookville in a narrow 2-1 loss. The Rams will play Tecumseh on Monday.
Three individuals to watch
Jake Beard, Kenton Ridge senior pitcher, infielder: Beard is someone who Shaffer said has “really come along” and is becoming “that guy” on the Kenton Ridge roster. He features a mid- to upper-80 mph fastball as well as a change-up and curveball.
Adam Levy, Graham senior pitcher, shortstop: Levy was a First Team Mad River Division All-Conference CBC in 2024. He was top-10 in the conference with both a .476 batting average and 32 hits in addition to throwing 25 1/3 innings on the mound.
Ried Smith, Northwestern junior centerfielder, shortstop: As a sophomore, Smith manned the outfield at Northwestern and received a spot on the All-CBC First Team Mad River Division after he hit .421 which tied for fifth in the conference driving in 24 runs and scoring 32 more which were both among the top 10.
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